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Student arrested for skipping school
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Texas USA: A judge threw a 17-year-old Chinese student Diane Tan from Willis High School in jail after she missed school again.
Judge Lanny Moriarty said last month he warned her then to stop missing school. But she recently missed classes again so Wednesday he ordered her to be arrested.
Tran said she works a full-time job, a part-time job and takes advanced placement and dual credit college level courses. She said she is often too exhausted to wake up in time for school. Sometimes she misses the entire day, she said. Sometimes she arrives after attendance has been taken.
The judge ordered Tan to spend 24 hours in jail and pay a $100 fine. Judge Moriarty admitted that he wants to make an example of Tan.
“If you let one truant student run loose, what are you gonna’ do with the rest of them? Let them go too?” Judge Moriarty asked. The judge feels Tan is more a worker than a student and she is wasting the resources of the school.
“She goes from job to job, from school she stays up ‘til 7 o’clock in the morning,” said her friend, co-worker and classmate Devin Hill.
Some students also need part time jobs to pay for school fees which can be forgiven. Some students go to school only for the certificate. They have no intention to learn something useful for their future careers and we should not waste time with those students.
Post comment Comment (7 replies)
- Reply XueHaiWuYa
- I feel so sorry for this poor high school girl. Where were her parents? How could they slough off their responsibility? I have a high school daughter, too, and she is also taking AP and honor classes, I always feel bad and worry if she has to stay up late at night and doesn't get enough rest; it is really hard for me to imagine that my daughter would have to experience what that girl has been through ....
True, there are attendance rules at school. However,a student who has absences in excess of unexcused days usually would not end up being arrested, but would be assigned an after-school detention, or few days suspension, or loose credits for courses. In this Chinese student's case,stead of just throwing the girl into a prison, the school should have offered an alternative way to help out a student like her, who is in such a time of adversity, trying hard to survive, carrying a heavy burden of responsibiliity, not applying for any welfare, and yet manages to be an honors student taking AP classes! There are laws in the US, requiring all eligible children with disabilities (including physical, mental,or emotional problem, or even a pregnancy), age 3-20, be provided a free appropriate public education, which include instruction given in the classroom, in the hospital, or in other settings. So, I feel upset that the school didn't give this girl, who loves to learn, some help until she got back to her feet ! I think she is the kind of person our society need.... Where are the hearts and the common sense of those people from her school and the judge?
I don't think people would be upset about the girl's violating the school rules. On the contrary, people would understand, and sympathize with her, praise her, and hope to have a child like her-- so loving, intelligent and hard working.
- Reply sunnyv
- XueHaiWuYa: I feel so sorry for this poor high school girl. Where were her parents? How could they slough off their responsibility? I have a high school daughter,I agree that the punishment is excessive. There is no criminal nature. US laws are know to be unfair in punishment. It could be possible that the girl needs to work to pay for her expensive school fees so she has to skip classes and that is excusable. On the other hand, there are quite a lot of students from rich parents who are in not serious about studies, wastefully education resources, therefore, something needs to be done about that too. We only hope that students are treated fairly.
- Reply snowflying
- sunny, i can't say something about the differences between western courtries and chinese, and the consepts existing between the westerns and our chinese too. that's surely a big and complexed topic that i don't exactly where i should begin my mouth. especially to the girl, not all because of the law details itself, but also the doferent high education system and methord and system. this litle girl is a pity, but not a special indvidual. i guess maybe many chinese girls or boys must confront these questions like her. not our chinese students loose their brain to stick to some bottom line, but some chinese adults give a same example.
in western law system, many practical lawyal past example can be the real rule to judge a person in jail. the law syltem is such a detail huge "stories" more than any abstract terms on the plain paper. the judge has his enough reason to give out his independent conclusion, no anyone else can dominate his mind, it's a generaly habitural histural or cultural status, merely this poor little girl need adapt the curel fact with her poor experiences.
only a pity? whose pity then?
- Reply moli
- As far as I am concerned, study should be placed first.
Of course, the tution fee ought to be taken into consideration while studying in foreign country, so those who want to go broad must get ready for anything financially and mentally.
- Reply IMNONARCISSUS
- A poor girl!
- Reply shirleyytt2010
- Why we go to school? the direct intention is learn something useful at schools , in my opinion, honest is best quality for us. Cheating is very bad.
- Reply Kimi011812
- XueHaiWuYa: I feel so sorry for this poor high school girl. Where were her parents? How could they slough off their responsibility? I have a high school daughter,I think this is what we called cultural differences!
